SXSW Report: Campaign and The Ten -- Reviews

Kazuhiko Yamauchi is running for a seat in the Kawasaki city council as a member of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party. A rare coin and stamp collector, Yamauchi has never sought political office before in his life. The unobtrusive camera captures moments of honesty seldom-seen in politics: Yamauchi's admission he's a "parachute candidate," recently moved to Kawasaki from Tokyo to run for an open city council seat; his candor about the role played by the LDP machinery, without which he'd have no chance; and the LDP's relentless stage management of his campaign, micromanaging his every move down to his bow. Director Kazuhiro Soda, an experienced doc lensman, follows Yamauchi's election to the nail-biting conclusion. But Campaign is also wincingly hilarious, with the harried candidate running around like a man on fire, addressing disinterested commuters and even people sleeping in their homes with his omnipresent P.A. system. It's easy to see Campaign hitting the Asian-American film circuit following its North American debut at SXSW.

Hilarious and semi-high minded, if on an altogether different plain, was The Ten, a series of interconnecting shorts and sketches, each based on one of the Ten Commandments. But The Decalogue this ain't. Directed by David Wain, and starring all his alumni from comedy troupe The State, including those that went on to Reno 911, Stella, and the sorely-missed Viva Variety, it mines the best in low-brow yucks out of its high holy material. Narrated by Paul Rudd, who's having it out with his wife Famke Janssen, the film sets up characters and jokes that play funny the first time around, but pay off greater even further down the road. One example are the characters in the prison-raping passion play inspired by the caveat, Do Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Wife, featuring a hilarious Rob Cordry. Also having great fun are a repressed Gretchen Moll, a puppet-humping Winona Ryder, Adam Brody, Justin Theroux, and Oliver Platt as Arnold Schwarzenegger. Why not?

Coming up: music videos and animated shorts.

Report and Reviews by Wells Dunbar.